David Holbrook
David Kenneth Holbrook (9 January 1923 – 11 August 2011)http://www.dow.cam.ac.uk/dow_server/news/index.html was an English poet, novelist, and academic. From 1989 he was an Emeritus Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge. Life David Holbrook was born in Norwich in 1923. He was educated at City of Norwich School and won a scholarship to study English at Downing College, Cambridge for a year in 1941, where he was a pupil of F. R. Leavis. He is sometimes identified as a Leavis disciple, but their relationship was slighter than this might suggest (and also ended angrily, though this is a lesser indication). Holbrook was called up for military service with the British Army in 1942 and served until 1945 as an officer with the East Riding Yeomanry. His novel Flesh Wounds (1966) is a lightly fictionalised account of his D-Day campaign experiences with the East Riding Yeomanry. In 1945 he returned to Downing to complete his degree, which he did in 1947. In 1946 he made a bleak visit to George Orwell on Jura. The actual reason was to see his girlfriend Susan Watson, who was Orwell's housekeeper, but Orwell assumed it was connected with Holbrook's membership of the Communist Party of Great Britain, and gave him a frosty reception. After Cambridge he became editor, initially with Edgell Rickword, of the communist cultural periodical Our Time. He then took up teaching positions, for the Workers' Educational Association and then at a secondary school in Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire. He became a full-time writer in the early 1960s. He also renewed links with the University of Cambridge, becoming a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge in 1961, a Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge in 1981 and an Emeritus Fellow of Downing in 1988. The Associated University Presses marked his seventieth birthday by publishing a Festschrift entitled Powers of Being in October 1995. The book of essays is edited by Edwin Webb, Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Greenwich, and held contributions by sixteen academics and teachers from the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, including a portrait written by Boris Ford. In over thirty years his range of publications was prodigious: from `English for Maturity' (1961), his first book on teaching English, to `Creativity and Popular Culture' (1994), he wrote about literature, culture and education, as well as producing his poetry and his novels. His distinguished literary achievements are here suitably celebrated. He was a Fellow of the English Association. Writing Novels Holbrook wrote several novels based on his own life and his family history. These were not romans à clef—most characters were identified by their real names—but they were closely based on real events without the constraints of veracity. The novels were not written in the internal chronological order. His first novel (Flesh Wounds (1966)) told the story of the escapades of Paul Grimmer (Holbrook's fictionalised persona) as a tank officer in the Normandy invasions. The events of Grimmer's adolescent life up to his enlistment were recounted in A Play of Passion (1978), which told of his involvement with the Maddermarket Theatre and its founder Nugent Monck. In Going Off The Rails (2003), Holbrook recreates the Edwardian lives of his paternal grandparents in rural Norfolk. His grandfather William built wagons in the Midland and Great Northern Railway workshops at Melton Constable. Holbrook's father worked as a railway booking clerk in North Walsham. He moved to Norwich when he was suspected of theft. Publications Poetry *''Imaginings''. London: Putnam, 1960. *''Against The Cruel Frost: A second volume of verse''. London: Putnam, 1963. *''Penguin Modern Poets 4'' (by David Holbrook, Christopher Middleton, & David Wevill). Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1963. *''Object Relations''. London: Methuen, 1967. *''Old World, New World: Poems . London: Rapp & Whiting, 1969. ISBN 0-85391-144-4 *''Chance of a Lifetime. London: Anvil, 1978. *''Moments in Italy: Poems and sketches''. Richmond, Surrey, UK: Keepsake Press, 1978. *''Selected Poems, 1961-1978'' London: Anvil / Wildwood House, 1980. *''Bringing Everything Home''. Kingston upon Hull, UK: Halfacrown, 1999. Novels * Flesh Wounds. London: Methuen, 1966. ISBN 978-1-86227-391-7 *''A Play of Passion''. London: W.H. Allen, 1978 ISBN 0-491-02282-4; Norwich, UK: Mousehold Press, 2004 ISBN 1-874739-33-1 *''Nothing Larger Than Life''. London: Robert Hale, 1987. * Worlds Apart. London: Robert Hale, 1988. * A Little Athens. London: Robert Hale, 1990. * Jennifer. London: Robert Hale, 1991. * The Gold In Father's Heart. Long Preston, UK: Dales, 1992. * Even If They Fail: A novel. London: Breese Books, 1994. * Getting It Wrong With Uncle Tom. Norwich, UK: Mousehold Press, 1998. *''A Bad Trip in a Tired Whale''. AuthorHouse, 2001.A Bad Trip in a Tired Whale, Google Books. Web, Sep. 26, 2014. * Going Off The Rails. London: Capella, 2003. ISBN 1-902918-14-2 Short fiction *''Lights in the Sky Country: Mary Easter, and stories of East Anglia''. London: Putnam, 1962. Non-fiction *''The Pseudo-Revolution: A critical study of extremist 'liberation' in sex''. London: Tom Stacey, 1972. *''The Masks of Hate: The problem of false solutions in the culture of an acquisitive society''. Oxford, UK, & New York: Pergamon Press, 1972. *''Further Studies in Philosophical Anthopology''. Aldershot, Hampshire, UK, & Brookfield, VT: Avebury, 1988. *''What Is It to Be Human?: New perspectives in philosophy''. Aldershot, Hampshire, UK: Avebury / Brookfield, VT: Gower, 1990. *''Creativity and Popular Culture''. Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press / London: Associated University Presses, 1994. Criticism *''Llareggub Revisited. Dylan Thomas and the state of modern poetry''. London: Bowes & Bowes, 1962. *''Dylan Thomas and Poetic Dissociation''. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1964. *''The Quest for Love''. London: Methuen, 1964; University, AL: Alabama University Press, 1965. *''Sex & Dehumanization in Art, Thought, and Life in Our Time''. London, Pitman, 1972. **''Dylan Thomas: The code of night''. London: Athlone Press, 1972. *''Gustav Mahler and The Courage To Be''. London: Vision Press, 1975. *''Sylvia Plath: Poetry and existence''. London: Athlone Press, 1976. *''Lost Bearings in English Poetry''. London: Vision Press, 1977; Totowa, NJ: Barnes & Noble, 1977. *''The Novel and Authenticity''. London: Vision Press / Totowa, NJ: Barnes & Noble, 1987. *''Images of Women in Literature''. New York & London: New York University Press, 1989. *''The Skeleton in the Wardrobe: C.S. Lewis's fantasies: A phenomenological study''. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press / London & Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1991. *''Edith Wharton and the Unsatisfactory Man''. London: Vision Press / New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991. *''Where D.H. Lawrence Was Wrong About Woman''. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press / London: Associated University Presses, 1992. *''Charles Dickens and the Image of Woman''. New York & London: New York University Press, 1993. *''Tolstoy, Woman, and Death: A study of 'War and Peace' and 'Anna Karenina'.'' Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press / London & Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses, 1997. *''Wuthering Heights: A drama of being''. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press, 1997. *''A Study of George MacDonald and the Image of Women''. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2000. *''Nonsense Against Sorrow: A phenomenological study of Lewis Carroll's 'Alice' books''. London: Open Gate Press, 2001. Education *''Children’s Games''. Bedford, UK: Gordon Fraser, 1957. *''English for Maturity: English in the secondary school''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1961. *''English for the Rejected. Training literacy in the lower streams of the secondary school''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1964. *''English in Australia Now: Notes on a visit to Victoria and other states''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1963. *''The Secret Places. Essays on imaginative work in English teaching and on the culture of the child''. London: Methuen, 1964; University, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1965. *''I've Got to Use Words: An English work book''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1966. *''The Exploring Word: Creative disciplines in the education of teachers of English''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1967. *''Children's Writing: a sampler for student teachers''. London: Cambridge University Press, 1967. *''Human Hope and the Death Instinct: An exploration of psychoanalytical theories of human nature and their implications for culture and education''. Oxford, UK, & New York: Pergamon Press, 1971. *''Education, Nihilism and Survival''. London: Darton, Longman, & Todd, 1977; New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2002. * English for Meaning. Windsor, UK: NFER, 1980. *''Education and Philosophical Anthropology: Toward a new view of man for the humanities and English''. Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press / London: Associated University Presses, 1987. *''Evolution and the Humanities''. Aldershot, Hampshire, UK: Avebury, 1987; New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987. *''English in a University Education''. Great Malvern, UK: Cappella Archive, 2000. Juvenile *''The Quarry: An opera for young players'' (with John Joubert). London: Novello, 1966. Edited *''Iron, Honey, Gold: The uses of verse: An anthology''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1961. *''Thieves and Angels: Dramatic pieces for use in schools''. Cambrige, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1962. *''People and Diamonds: An anthology of modern short stories for use in secondary schools''. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1962-1965. *''Visions of Life: Prose passages in four volumes for reading and comprehension work''. (4 volumes), Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1964. *''The Cambridge Hymnal'' (compiled with Elizabeth Poston). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1967. *''Plucking The Rushes: An anthology of Chinese poetry in translation''. London: Heinemann, 1968. *''The Case against Pornography''. London: Tom Stacey, 1972; New York: Library Press, 1972. *''The Apple Tree: Christmas music from The Cambridge Hymnal'' (compiled with Elizabeth Poston). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1976. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:David Holbrook, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Sep. 26, 2014. See also * List of British poets References *[http://www.dow.cam.ac.uk/dow_server/info/danl/DANL96.html Holbrook, David. 'F. R. Leavis', Downing Association Newsletter 1996 (1996)] Retrieved April 18, 2005 *[http://www.dow.cam.ac.uk/www_server/Fellows/D.K._HolbrookA.html 'David Holbrook', Downing College Fellows (May 2000)] Retrieved April 18, 2005 *[http://www.cappella.demon.co.uk/examine/offrails.html 'Going Off The Rails', Capella Archive Catalogue (2003)] Retrieved April 18, 2005 *Edwin Webb, editor (1995) Powers of Being: David Holbrook and His Work Notes External links ;Poems * David Holbrook at PoemHunter (24 poems). ;About *David Holbrook obituary, The Guardian. * David Holbrook obituary, The Independent. *David Holbrook obituary, The Daily Telegraph Category:English novelists Category:English literary critics Category:English poets Category:1923 births Category:2011 deaths Category:Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Category:Fellows of Downing College, Cambridge Category:Fellows of King's College, Cambridge Category:British Army personnel of World War II Category:Communist Party of Great Britain members Category:People from Norwich Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:British academics